


Not With Haste

by Scarlet_Gryphon



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Fluff, Immortal Husbands Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Implied Sexual Content, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani and Nicky | Nicolò di Genova are in Love, Lazy Mornings, M/M, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Loves Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, set in a nebulous time either before or after the movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:14:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29704587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Gryphon/pseuds/Scarlet_Gryphon
Summary: Nicky is the first to wake on a lazy morning and takes the time to appreciate the good he has in his life.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 7
Kudos: 87





	Not With Haste

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Not With Haste" by Mumford and Sons.

The mid-morning sunlight wakes Nicky from his slumber slow and steady, pulling him into wakefulness as gently as a butterfly lands on a flower. He blinks against the light, nose wrinkling in mild distaste, and then turns over to see if Joe is awake as well. It's rare that he manages to wake up before his husband, but Nicky will take any chance he gets to see that beloved face relaxed and free of worry in the only way restful sleep can provide.

Joe is still completely asleep, brow unmarred by the weight of the world as he holds Nicky close. Nicky is well aware of just how blessed he is to have found someone willing to trust him so much. After all the battles they've been through, righteous and otherwise, to have Joe willingly allow him to occupy his arms and keep him from immediately being able to access a weapon is as humbling as it was the first time it happened. Nicky knows he sleeps better with his husband's arms around him, and Joe certainly seems to share the same opinion.

They do their best not to argue, but even with their unexplained immortality they're only human, and humans are liable to snap at one another from time to time, especially when the situation is stressful. Nicky hates it when the fights are bad enough that they can't resolve them before bedtime. It usually means sleeping apart from one another and that always spells a poor night of rest for both of them, assuming they can get any sleep as it is. They eventually make up- after this long, it's never more than a day before one of them says something that has the other laughing or smiling as if the argument has never taken place -and go about their lives.

Nicky smiles to himself, reaching up to brush away a wayward curl from Joe's forehead. It springs right back into place, as contrary and stubborn as its owner. The thought brings a deep warmth to Nicky's chest, the familiar feeling radiating through him like the most intoxicating alcohol in the world. It's still so hard to think that he's been blessed with such a powerful love. It feels nigh-on blasphemous at times, but Nicky knows that if he's going to be condemned for love, it might as well be such an open-and-shut case that even the dead can tell he's found the perfect person for him.

He's well aware that Joe isn't perfect- none of them are, and their long lives have taught them nothing if not that -but that doesn't matter to him. Nicky thinks it'd be rather boring to be perfect all the time. Humanity and all its inherent flaws are far more interesting to him, even if at times those flaws can be devastatingly heartbreaking and cruel.

His thoughts are interrupted as Joe finally stirs and then awakes, a single in-drawn breath marking the tipping point between slumber and consciousness. Nicky's smile deepens as Joe's sleepy gaze wanders and then fixes on him, his mouth curving upwards in an automatic echo.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, my heart.”

Joe chuckles, the vibrations rumbling low and fond between them. “Your heart?”

“My heart, my soul, my beloved,” Nicky confirms, nudging Joe onto his back so they can take advantage of the fact that they have a delightfully large bed to themselves and nowhere to be any time soon. Joe easily complies, his hands sneaking under Nicky's shirt even as he settles down. Nicky loves Joe's hands. They have dealt him his death and provided him sanctuary from the weight of the world, and Nicky knows they will continue to do the latter until such a time as they cannot.

He banishes the thought of their eventual final deaths from his mind as he straddles Joe's thighs, leaning in to kiss him and carefully tangle his fingers in those always-enticing curls. Joe hums happily, returning the kiss with equal measures of love and devotion. Things develop from there, the quiet intimacy of the morning celebrated and reaffirmed several times over between them.

The rest of the day continues to hold on to that golden laziness of the morning, allowing the two of them to simply rest and relax, a rarity in the increasingly hectic world they live in. Nicky is well aware that times like this are few and far between, but as he sprawls lazily on top of Joe later that evening, an old film they've seen far too many times before playing in the background, he thinks that until the world says otherwise, he's going to soak it up as much as he can.

The universe, he thinks, owes him that much at the very least.


End file.
